BP Share News (BP.)

The top share index finished in the blue on Tuesday despite a volatile day of trading, as investors digested a host of trading updates and results from some heavyweight constituents. Meanwhile, the US debt ceiling saga continued to roll on in the background as President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner made TV appearances on Monday night, appearing not to be anywhere close to a solution. "I have told leaders of both parties that they must come up with a fair compromise in the next few days that can pass both houses of Congress - a compromise I can sign," Obama said. Back in the UK, the Office of National Statistics revealed that the UK economy grew by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2011, following the 0.5% pace seen in the first three months of the year. RBS thinks that without "temporary factors", growth for the period would have been 0.7%. The Office for National Statistics, which released the figures, said the data was skewed by the combined effects of the April Bank holiday, the royal wedding and the after effects of the Japanese tsunami. Gilts fell back a little despite Britain's second quarter growth figures coming in pretty much bang in line with forecasts, suggesting some had been worried they might have been worse. The yield on a 10-year gilt rose by three basis points to 3.08%. Despite the late afternoon recovery, the Footsie closed only mildly higher, after a mixed reception to company announcements.Oil giants BP and BG were moving in both directions, with BP falling into the red and BG rising sharply to outperform the rest of the blue chips. The rising price of oil and gas boosted BP's profits in the second quarter, though the benefits were partially offset by lower production as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil firm saw second quarter profits of £3.2bn, against a loss of £10.3bn for the same period last year.In contrast, BG Group was in demand. The oil and gas leviathan saw second quarter earnings per share jump 27% to 33.1 cents from 26.1 cents a year earlier. The interim dividend has been hiked by 10% to 10.8 cents. GlaxoSmithKline edged higher despite the drugs giant reporting a 4% fall in quarterly revenue, indicating a significant drop in pandemic flu product sales. However, the company's shares gained momentum after it gave a rosy outlook for 2012 and recorded a 5% rise in sales, excluding the pandemic flu product segment. ARM Holdings fell lower despite its second quarter earnings per share (EPS) coming in well ahead of expectations, as demand for the company's technology continues to grow. "Profits for Q2 beat consensus by almost 20%, but an expected weakening in royalties in H2 is likely to limit full-year upgrades to around 5%," noted Peel Hunt's analyst Paul Morland. De Beers is to make a $299m contribution to the half-year underlying earnings of Anglo American, thanks to Anglo's 45% stake in the South African diamond miner. Anglo's shares rose over 1.3% higher.Another gold miner, African Barrick, was shining after it unveiled a 54% increase in its net profit for the second quarter of the year to $69.77m, on the back of a 39% rise in revenues to $311.76m. Investors had no appetite for pork products supplier Cranswick, as shares dropped over 14%, after saying it expects full-year results to fall short of expectations as it continues to face high input costs and a weak consumer environment. Set-top box maker Pace was in demand despite saying half yearly pre-tax profit more than halved, as it reaffirmed that it was on track to meet its lowered profit guidance of between $150m and $170m for the full year. BCFTSE 100 - RisersBG Group (BG.) 1,486.50p +4.32%Vodafone Group (VOD) 164.95p +1.82%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 791.50p +1.34%IMI (IMI) 1,099.00p +1.20%Anglo American (AAL) 3,061.50p +1.16%Capita Group (CPI) 711.50p +1.14%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,103.00p +1.01%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,314.50p +0.96%Diageo (DGE) 1,276.00p +0.79%Investec (INVP) 508.50p +0.79%FTSE 100 - FallersARM Holdings (ARM) 595.50p -3.33%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,549.00p -3.19%GKN (GKN) 231.00p -3.02%Man Group (EMG) 233.90p -2.58%BP (BP.) 463.25p -2.56%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,692.00p -2.14%John Wood Group (WG.) 690.00p -1.92%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 133.10p -1.84%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 725.50p -1.83%Kingfisher (KGF) 260.00p -1.70%